Four dead as landslide hits truck on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway

BANIHAL/JAMMU,SEPT 12: Four people were killed when their truck plunged into a deep gorge after being hit by a landslide along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway early Tuesday, police said.

Due to the landslide that hit the highway near Sherbibi in Ramban district at around 5 am, vehicular movement was suspended, they said.

A police official said the truck was headed to Srinagar from Jammu.

A rescue operation was immediately launched by local volunteers and police, officials said, adding all four bodies were retrieved from the mangled remains of the truck.

Officials identified the deceased as truck driver Mohd Afzal Garoo (42), his brother Altaf Garoo (36) of Kulgam, Irfan Ahmed (33) and his brother Showkat Ahmad (29) of Anantnag.

Around six cattle, which were being transported in the truck for domestic use, also perished in the accident, they said.

The landslide blocked the highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country, and efforts are on to make it traffic-worthy, officials said.

-PTI